BYU football notebook: BYU hopes to not pick up as many penalties vs. Utes

In last Saturday's 40-7 victory over New Mexico, BYU committed 14 penalties, which resulted in a loss of 141 yards. Coach Bronco Mendenhall attributed the plethora of yellow flags to "over-aggression and emotion" because of Senior Day.

Of course, Mendenhall is well-aware of the emotional nature of the rivalry game and he plans to talk to his players about how to avoid that against Utah.

"(All the penalties against the Lobos) gives me a great chance to address it at least one week early," Mendenhall said. "The players wanted to play so well for our seniors -- that was the focus of what that game was about. I tried to make sure that they tried as hard as they could for that group, and honor what they've done this season. They took that literally and a lot of those mistakes were just eagerness, over-aggression and emotion of trying to do what I asked them to do."

Andrew Rich (Provided by BYU)

Senior cornerback Brian Logan admitted that he got too emotional last week and allowed it to affect his play.

"I let my emotions get the best of me. I don't play too well when I'm angry," he said. "I was talking to a player and said I was going to memorize a couple of scriptures about being humble from my Bible and just write them down on my arm just so whenever I get frustrated or mad (against Utah), I have a reminder to keep my cool."

Audible

"Anytime you can win on the road against a quality team like Utah is a big win for any (program). Obviously, it would add to the momentum that we've built up through the last five or six games. It would be a good way to finish the regular season." Andrew Rich, BYU senior safety

Extra point

With its win over New Mexico, BYU now has a 64-25 record since the Mountain West Conference began in 1999. No other team has more MWC wins over that 12-year span. Utah is No. 2 on that list with a 62-27 mark in conference games.

End zone

On Tuesday, BYU junior running back Bryan Kariya was named to the ESPN Academic All-America Second Team. A Chinese major with a 3.87 GPA, Kariya was one of four running backs named to the first and second teams. The junior from Kaysville is the Cougars' second-leading rusher with 483 yards. Overall, BYU has earned 35 Academic All-America citations since 1965 ... In Mountain West Conference games this season, the Cougars have scored 210 points and given up 131 while the Utes have scored 256 and allowed 140 ... When BYU has passed for 300 yards and rushed for 200 yards, it has a 39-0 record dating back to 1972, including 5-0 under coach Bronco Mendenhall.